How should BP oil spill fines be spent?

Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 9:46 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 9:46 p.m.

Residents asked the council tasked with distributing billions in BP oil spill fine money to act with urgency and make use of the numerous plans and programs already in place to restore Louisiana’s coast.

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, created last year by the federal Restore Act, is developing a plan to distribute the fine money that will be sent back to the Gulf for restoration and economic development. The draft plan will be released for public comment in the spring. The plan itself will be released in July. The meeting Tuesday at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center was the first of several along the Gulf Coast to obtain public comment.

“A lot of us have been coming to meetings for many, many years,” said United Houma Nation Chief Thomas Dardar. “The test is now. We’ve done the studies. You know the urgency because we’re fishing where we once planted crops.”

The Restore Act, passed by Congress last year, dedicates 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the oil spill to five Gulf Coast states.

Companies involved with the spill can be fined from $1,000 to $4,300 per barrel leaked after the 2010 deadly explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

On Tuesday, a federal judge approved Transocean’s $1 billion civil settlement for its involvement in the spill. A portion of those fines will go into the Gulf Restoration Trust Fund and could be available by the end of April, said Teresa Christopher, senior advisor for Gulf restoration with the U.S. Department of Commerce. For BP, that settlement could add up to fines of between $5 billion and $20 billion.

The restoration council is chaired by the secretary of commerce and includes governors of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. It also includes secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, the Army, Homeland Security and the Interior, plus the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Of the money going to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, 30 percent of it will be divvied up for restoration and protection. The other 30 percent will be sent directly to the states. But the money sent to the states must be spent in a way that’s consistent with the goals of the council’s plan.

Another 35 percent of the Restore Act money will be split equally between Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida for environmental and economic recovery along the coast.

The final 5 percent goes to research on the Gulf fisheries, including 2.5 percent for science, observation, monitoring and technology programs, and 2.5 percent to create the Centers of Excellence Research Grants, which will offer grants to research a variety of Gulf issues.

While the plan itself is still in development, Christopher said the Restoration Council has five goals for the spill fines. It wants projects that will:

n Restore and conserve habitat.

n Restore water quality.

n Replenish and protect living coastal and marine resources.

n Enhance community resilience.

n Restore and revitalize the Gulf economy.

Several attendees asked the council to consider creating a community advisory council so locals, especially socially and economically vulnerable residents such as those living on the bayous, can better weigh in on how oil spill fine dollars are spent.

“We’ve experienced natural and man-made disasters, and I think it has left a lot of community members feeling helpless,” said Donald Bogen, a community organizer with BISCO, a multifaith community nonprofit group.

Environmental groups also urged the council to consider the work already done in drafting Louisiana’s master plan for coastal protection and restoration. That plan, released last year, has already undergone rigorous vetting for cost, benefits and long-term viability, and has had intense public scrutiny.

Doug Meffert, Audubon Louisiana’s executive director, suggested work focus on river diversions to restore the natural system and barrier island projects, which are both major components of the master plan.

“Let’s not reinvent the wheel when the work has already been done,” said David Muth, director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Mississippi River Delta Program.

Kyle Graham, deputy executive director for the state Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, said Louisiana is planning to use that document as its guide when spending its oil spill fine money on projects. The state hopes to pay for major work in the Terrebonne and Lafourche area such as for the Houma Navigation Canal Lock, barrier island restoration on Isles Dernieres, Timbalier and Caminada, and projects to route fresh water from the Atchafalaya River into Terrebonne.

But Terrebonne Restoration Director Nic Matherne said there’s much restoration work Terrebonne would like to do that is not included in the plan. He asked for flexibility to pursue projects locals think are important.

Kerry St. Pé, director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, added that restoration dollars could help pay for smaller projects that could help bird species majorly impacted by the oil spill. Small barrier islands in the Barataria Basin popular with nesting birds were nearly wiped out when the oil killed the black mangroves that held those islands together. Some have gone from hundreds of acres in size to less than a dozen acres.

Steven Peyronnin, executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, pointed out that many of the council’s goals could be accomplished by focusing on Louisiana’s problems with coastal erosion.

“The underlying for problem for communities, our culture and our economy is coastal land loss,” he said.

He urged the council to act quickly, especially knowing that $1 billion in Restore Act dollars from Transocean will be coming soon.

“We know today that the council has these dollars. I ask you to act with a sense of urgency,” Peyronnin said.

More information is available at restorethegulf.gov. You can submit written comments by email to restorecouncil@doc.gov.

Staff Writer Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.

<p>Residents asked the council tasked with distributing billions in BP oil spill fine money to act with urgency and make use of the numerous plans and programs already in place to restore Louisiana's coast.</p><p>The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, created last year by the federal Restore Act, is developing a plan to distribute the fine money that will be sent back to the Gulf for restoration and economic development. The draft plan will be released for public comment in the spring. The plan itself will be released in July. The meeting Tuesday at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center was the first of several along the Gulf Coast to obtain public comment.</p><p>“A lot of us have been coming to meetings for many, many years,” said United Houma Nation Chief Thomas Dardar. “The test is now. We've done the studies. You know the urgency because we're fishing where we once planted crops.”</p><p>The Restore Act, passed by Congress last year, dedicates 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the oil spill to five Gulf Coast states. </p><p>Companies involved with the spill can be fined from $1,000 to $4,300 per barrel leaked after the 2010 deadly explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.</p><p>On Tuesday, a federal judge approved Transocean's $1 billion civil settlement for its involvement in the spill. A portion of those fines will go into the Gulf Restoration Trust Fund and could be available by the end of April, said Teresa Christopher, senior advisor for Gulf restoration with the U.S. Department of Commerce. For BP, that settlement could add up to fines of between $5 billion and $20 billion.</p><p>The restoration council is chaired by the secretary of commerce and includes governors of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. It also includes secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, the Army, Homeland Security and the Interior, plus the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.</p><p>Of the money going to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, 30 percent of it will be divvied up for restoration and protection. The other 30 percent will be sent directly to the states. But the money sent to the states must be spent in a way that's consistent with the goals of the council's plan.</p><p>Another 35 percent of the Restore Act money will be split equally between Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida for environmental and economic recovery along the coast. </p><p>The final 5 percent goes to research on the Gulf fisheries, including 2.5 percent for science, observation, monitoring and technology programs, and 2.5 percent to create the Centers of Excellence Research Grants, which will offer grants to research a variety of Gulf issues.</p><p>While the plan itself is still in development, Christopher said the Restoration Council has five goals for the spill fines. It wants projects that will:</p><p>n Restore and conserve habitat.</p><p>n Restore water quality.</p><p>n Replenish and protect living coastal and marine resources.</p><p>n Enhance community resilience.</p><p>n Restore and revitalize the Gulf economy.</p><p>Several attendees asked the council to consider creating a community advisory council so locals, especially socially and economically vulnerable residents such as those living on the bayous, can better weigh in on how oil spill fine dollars are spent.</p><p>“We've experienced natural and man-made disasters, and I think it has left a lot of community members feeling helpless,” said Donald Bogen, a community organizer with BISCO, a multifaith community nonprofit group.</p><p>Environmental groups also urged the council to consider the work already done in drafting Louisiana's master plan for coastal protection and restoration. That plan, released last year, has already undergone rigorous vetting for cost, benefits and long-term viability, and has had intense public scrutiny.</p><p>Doug Meffert, Audubon Louisiana's executive director, suggested work focus on river diversions to restore the natural system and barrier island projects, which are both major components of the master plan.</p><p>“Let's not reinvent the wheel when the work has already been done,” said David Muth, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Mississippi River Delta Program.</p><p>Kyle Graham, deputy executive director for the state Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, said Louisiana is planning to use that document as its guide when spending its oil spill fine money on projects. The state hopes to pay for major work in the Terrebonne and Lafourche area such as for the Houma Navigation Canal Lock, barrier island restoration on Isles Dernieres, Timbalier and Caminada, and projects to route fresh water from the Atchafalaya River into Terrebonne.</p><p>But Terrebonne Restoration Director Nic Matherne said there's much restoration work Terrebonne would like to do that is not included in the plan. He asked for flexibility to pursue projects locals think are important.</p><p>Kerry St. Pé, director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, added that restoration dollars could help pay for smaller projects that could help bird species majorly impacted by the oil spill. Small barrier islands in the Barataria Basin popular with nesting birds were nearly wiped out when the oil killed the black mangroves that held those islands together. Some have gone from hundreds of acres in size to less than a dozen acres.</p><p>Steven Peyronnin, executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, pointed out that many of the council's goals could be accomplished by focusing on Louisiana's problems with coastal erosion.</p><p>“The underlying for problem for communities, our culture and our economy is coastal land loss,” he said.</p><p>He urged the council to act quickly, especially knowing that $1 billion in Restore Act dollars from Transocean will be coming soon.</p><p>“We know today that the council has these dollars. I ask you to act with a sense of urgency,” Peyronnin said.</p><p>More information is available at restorethegulf.gov. You can submit written comments by email to restorecouncil@doc.gov.</p><p>Staff Writer Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.</p>